| sean finney on 25 Feb 2006 17:55:42 -0000 |
|
hi sean,
On Sat, Feb 25, 2006 at 11:11:42AM -0500, Sean C. Sheridan wrote:
> Those are some great points you made, anybody wanting to learn more about
> the legality of harvesting (and then reselling) data from a "phone
> directory" should look at the caselaw which holds that it is perfectly
> legal to do so if the source is public information, as in a phone book.
maybe constructing a marketing database from public domain information
is legal[1]. i will sidestep the issue of ethics.
however, you are doing more than harvesting information from a
directory. keep in mind you are doing so by /accessing a university
computer system elsewhere on the internet/. this computer system
may have terms of usage and a certain level of authorization to which
you are bound. in fact, from the "example" directory you provided:
Copyright Information
The contents of this Directory are copyrighted by The University
of Texas at Austin. By using the Directory, you agree that you
will not reproduce, sell, transfer, or modify any of the
information found in response to your search requests or use any
such information for commercial purposes, without the prior
express written permission and license of The University of
Texas at Austin. Unauthorized use and/or abuse is subject to
criminal prosecution under both state and federal laws. See also
the University's copyright information.
This online directory service is provided by the University to
facilitate the research, teaching, learning, and service
missions of the University community. Solicitation on University
computing and network resources is prohibited by the Rules and
Regulations of the University of Texas Board of Regents.
Accordingly, the contact information provided in this online
directory service may not be used for transmission and
distribution of unsolicited e-mail or other commercial
purposes[2].
while one could perhaps challenge whether the university has the
authority to copyright the information, they are definitely within
their legal rights to specify how their computer systems and
networks may be used. you will find that most universities have similar
policies.
with this rationale, you would be in violation of possibly several
state laws. because i happened to have them handy from a previous
run-in with overzealous marketers[3][4], take a look at title 18 chapter
76 of the criminal statute of the commonwealth of PA, ss 7611, 7612,
and 7614.
> Anybody wanting to learn more about why a "college directory" is in the
> public domain should read up on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
> Act of 1974 (FERPA) which basically states that any educational
> institution which receives federal money must determine if it is going to
> offer a directory and if they do what information that directory will
> hold.
i'm familiar with FERPA, being a former systems administrator at a
philadelphia-area liberal arts school, actually.
afaik, FERPA says nothing about a college directory being "public
domain", apart from making references to the phrase "public directory"
and stipulating that along with offering certain kinds of information
in said directory that they must provide notice and means of removal
to students in this directory. however, this is all tangential,
considering the issues i've already raised.
> Furthermore, there are established public companies who have been doing
> exactly what we are talking about including:
i am not knowledgable of these other businesses' practices. but having
a couple friends who are or have been in the direct marketing business,
i'm quite aware that there does exist such a thing as legitimate direct
marketing. however, none of the above companies is soliciting members
of this list.
sean
[1] of course everything in this email is prefaced with the standard
IANAL disclaimer.
[2] http://www.utexas.edu/directory/about.php#copyright
[3] granted, these guys were much more amateur and much further "over
the line" by actually using our network. see [4] for the whole
story.
[4] http://eclipsed.net/~seanius/nichewavemedia.txt
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